1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hunting license and, more particularly, to a printable hunting license forms suitable for use at a computerized point-of-sale terminal. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term "hunting" refers to the capture and/or killing of any game animal and is intended to include fishing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hunting licenses are issued by governmental authorities for various purposes such as to protect and control the game animal population, as a source of revenue, and ensure that hunters are qualified to use weapons in a safe manner. Such hunting licenses are printed on forms which provide at least a license document which the hunter or fisherman carries as evidence that he is authorized to be hunting or fishing, and which is fixed to an animal carcass as evidence that the animal was killed by a licensed person. Also, the form from which the license document is produced also includes a record portion to be retained by the agent who issued the license.
A page of hunting license forms according to the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. In plan, the page 10 is rectangular, and is formed with holes 12 for placing the page in a binder. The right portion of the page comprises several back tags/kill tags 14 temporarily joined together by perforated lines 16 at the adjacent upper and lower edges of the tags. The left portion 18 of the page comprises several record portions 20 corresponding to the tags 14.
The left portion 18 also includes a flap 22 which is a lamination of adhesive backed paper on a release liner. The flap 22 is die cut at 24 to form removable adhesive license stamps 26. Beneath the flap 22, there is a second flap of carbon paper 28 which transfers information written on the stamps 26 to the underlying record portion 20. A perforated line 30 is provided for separating the flaps 22, 28 from the record portions 20. Perforated line 32 is provided for separating the tags 14 from the left portion 18.
The tags 14 are formed from a tough sheet material, such as the synthetic fibrous material available under the trademark TYVEK, and the left portion 18 is formed from paper. The tags 14 and left portion 18 are adhered together at an overlap 34. Each tag 14 is formed with a hole 26 adjacent its right edge and fitted with a metal grommet 38. The hole and grommet provide a reinforced opening through which may pass a cord for securing the tag to an animal carcass without tearing the tag.
The page 10 of hunting license forms is used as follows: The hunter purchases a passbook of adhesive stamps from the governmental authority. The hunter then purchases the desired number of licenses from an issuing agent. The agent writes the issuance date on the license stamps 26 corresponding to the purchased licenses. The issuance date is also transferred to the record portions 20 below the stamps 26. The license stamps 26 are peeled off and adhered in the hunter's passbook. A first passbook stamp for each purchased license is removed from the hunter's passbook and adhered to the area 40 of the tag 14. A second passbook stamp for each purchased license is removed from the hunter's passbook and adhered to the area 42 of the record portion. The tags 14 for each purchased license are separated from the page and given to the hunter. When the page is fully sold, the agent removes the flaps 22 and 28. The left portion 18 is kept by the agent and later sent to the governmental authority.
While hunting, the hunter must keep a tag 14 visible by pinning the tag to his back or placing the tag in a windowed pocket on the back of his jacket. When the hunter kills an animal, the tag is affixed to the carcass by a cord passing through the hole 36 and grommet 38.
The page 10 is preprinted with all the textual material shown in FIG. 1, including a unique license number at three places 43, identification of the type of license 44, the year 45 for which the license is effective, and the amount of the licensee fee.
It is evident from the above description that the hunting license form according to the prior art necessitates an elaborate and expensively produced multipart form and separate passbook with adhesive stamps. The form is an assembly of TYVEK sheet material, paper, die cut adhesive stamps with release backing, carbon paper, and metal grommets. Nearly all of the essential information is preprinted on the form, making the form usable for only one type of game license.
Furthermore, the hunting license form of the prior art requires an equally elaborate procedure for issuance. The hunter must first obtain a passbook containing adhesive passbook stamps. Two passbook stamps must be transferred from the passbook to the license tag and record portion of the form. Another stamp must be peeled from a flap on the form and transferred to the passbook. The agent must remove and discard two flaps. The record portion must be retained by the agent then forwarded to the governmental authority. This complicated procedure tends to increase the likelihood that errors will be made.
Computerized terminals have become widely available and used for the issuance of official documents such as lottery tickets and driver's licenses. Such "point-of-sales" terminals have greatly facilitated and simplified the issuance of such documents. The terminal may be used to record transaction data at the point of sale and to transmit the data to a central location such as a governmental office.
Heretofore, point-of-sale terminals have not been used in the issuance of hunting licenses due to the unsuitability of the hunting license forms for use in computerized printers. The flaps on the form would tend to jam the printhead. The metal grommets on the license tags would interfere with the pin feed tractor mechanism used in many printers.